The invention relates to a process for the output of music information in a vehicle.
A method is known for the output of music information by use of an audio device in a vehicle, whereby the driver's behavior is detected by means of data of one or more driving systems and/or one or more comfort systems of the vehicle, and whereby, for different types of behavior of the driver and/or traffic situations, one piece of music respectively is stored as music information in a table. In the event of the presence of the respective driving behavior and/or of the respective traffic situation, this music information is played back by way of the audio device.
In contrast to the above, it is an object of the invention to improve the attention value of the information for the output for the driver.
The invention achieves this and other objects by providing a method for outputting music information in a vehicle by way of an audio device having loudspeakers in front and rear areas. The behavior of the vehicle is detected by an acceleration sensor, which responds to longitudinal acceleration. At least those loudspeakers which are mounted in the direction of the respective acceleration are preferably activated.
The invention is aimed at controlling playback of audio information as a function of the longitudinal dynamics of the vehicle movement. As in the known method, the audio information may be a piece of music or a tone sequence which is generated by a tone generator.
It is an object of the invention to provide the driver with indirectly noticeable support for his further behavior. For this purpose, the playback characteristic of the audio device is adapted as a function of the longitudinal dynamics of the vehicle movement. If the audio device contains one loudspeaker arranged in the front in the driving direction and one loudspeaker arranged in the rear in the driving direction, one of the loudspeakers is activated in a dominant manner in the case of an increase/decrease of the vehicle speed. The one loudspeaker may become louder than without a longitudinal acceleration while the volume of the other loudspeaker is unchanged, or it may become louder while the volume of the other loudspeaker is simultaneously reduced. In each case, the driver's and the passenger's attention is acoustically clearly drawn to the special driving dynamics. This information is intuitively understood because the local assignment of the dominant loudspeaker and of the acceleration direction is unambiguous.
The same applies if two and, as nowadays is often customary, even more than two loudspeakers are present in the front and/or the rear in the driving direction. The loudspeakers arranged in the front, if required, are activated to a greater degree in a joint manner. A corresponding situation applies to two and more loudspeakers arranged in the rear in the case of an opposite longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle.
As described for a longitudinal acceleration, the invention can also be expanded to the case of a lateral acceleration of the vehicle. One or more loudspeakers arranged laterally in the interior of the vehicle are preferably activated during a lateral acceleration of the vehicle. Here also, the driver's and passenger's attention is acoustically clearly drawn to the special driving dynamics.
Instead of using a discrete acceleration sensor, the information concerning a lateral acceleration with respect to the direction and intensity can also be obtained from information already existing concerning a cornering at a defined speed, for example, from the output signals of the wheel rotation sensors, which are used within the framework of an antilock system.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.